A DAD from the Midlands caught up in America's worst gun outrage today told how he kept broadcasting his student radio show as 33 people were shot dead.

Tom Porter, aged 37 and from Walsall, locked himself into his studio during the carnage at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia.

He broadcast safety advice urging people to stay off the streets and lock their doors and windows as a crazed gunman lined up his victims and shot them dead.

Mr Porter, a former journalist, said: "'It was a very worrying time and a lot of students were freaking out.

"I thought the best thing I could do was just to keep calm and keep on going. I was only five minutes walk from where the shooting was happening.

"Out of the window I could see armed police and swat teams swarming all over the campus.

"But I knew many of the students would be locked down in their dorms and classrooms and relying on the show for information.

"I got what I was told by the police, university officials and people phoning in and relayed it all as best I could."

Campus chiefs are facing criticism today over their handling of what has become America's largest mass shooting.

As police begin to unravel how 32 people were killed in the massacre the authorities are facing tough questions from students over why they waited more than two hours to inform the staff and students of the first murders.

Witnesses today described their terror and confusion as the gunman stormed the campus.

Ruiqi Zhang, a junior computer engineering student, was in his class when the horrific attack unfolded on the second floor of Norris Hall.

He said: "A student rushed in and told everybody to get down.

"We put a table against the door and when the gunman tried to shoulder his way in he put two shots through the door.

"It was the scariest moment of my life."

A number of students were injured jumping from buildings as they fled the gunman.

Alec Calhoun, 20, was in a mechanics class when the gunman opened fire for the second time.

He said when he realised the sounds were gunshots, he began turning over desks for hiding places, before jumping out of the second floor classroom.

Mr Calhoun said: "I must've been the eighth or ninth person who jumped, and I think I was the last."

He managed to land in a bush and run off.

Fellow student Derek O'Dell, who was hit in the arm, said he saw a student sitting next to him shot dead.

Describing the gunman, he said: "He came into class. He shot the person sitting next to me, then my professor. I hid under the desk."

Mr O'Dell said there were between 15 and 20 people in the class and the gunman shot "around ten to 15".

Student Blake Harrison, 19, said: "A gunman who was wearing a vest covered in clips was going from classroom to classroom. He was just reloading his handgun and going on. It never seemed like he was going to stop. There was blood all over."

Gene Cole, who has worked at Virginia Tech for more than 20 years, saw bloodied hallways. He also caught a glimpse of the suspected killer, who was wielding a black automatic handgun.

Mr Cole, a building worker, saw a body on the floor after hearing shots.

He said: "Across the hall, I caught sight of the shooter, and he loaded his gun at me. I ran down the steps to get out of there."

Erin Sheehan, who was in a German class in Norris, said the gunman had "peeked in twice" like he was looking for somebody, before he started shooting.

She described the gunman as "just a normal looking kid, Asian, but he had on a Boy Scout-type outfit. He wore a tan button-up vest, and this black vest, maybe it was for ammo or something".

Charles Steger, president of the university, said police were forced to break through doors at Norris Hall that had been chained shut from the inside.

He said: "They followed the sounds of gunshots to the second floor when the gunshots stopped. They discovered the gunman who had taken his own life, there was never any engagement with the gunman by police."

US president George Bush offered his condolences to those affected by the tragedy.

He said: "School should be places of safety and sanctuary and learning. When that sanctuary is violated the impact is felt in every American class and in every American community.

"Today our nation grieves with those who have lost loved ones at Virginia Tech."

The Queen, who will travel to Virginia next month during a US state visit, also offered her sympathies.

A Buckingham Palace spokeswoman said: "The Queen was shocked and saddened to hear of the news of the shooting in Virginia."